Give Me Your Princess
Give Me Your Princess is the fifteenth episode of the lion series of Voltron: Defender of the Universe. It is the final episode on the Blue Lion Voltron DVD Collection released in 2006. Plot Summary Lotor's obsession over Allura begins. While he is on Planet Doom, he tells his new soldiers that their primary target is now Voltron and starts plotting for the first time of a way to make the Princess his bride. Back on Planet Arus, Princess Allura steals away to discreetly practice piloting the Black Lion. While her motives stem from her sense of duty to defend her realm by learning to operate the core component of Voltron, they are mixed also with her sense of entitlement and her fear of denial. She is almost immediately discovered, and in her ensuing argument with her teammates she issues a bit of feminist presumption which is (mis)interpreted as a desire to assume leadership over them. Keith responds in a mature manner and chooses to pilot the Blue Lion until this matter is sorted out. There are even more pressing matters at hand, after all, as shown when the AA defenses of the Castle of Lions fire upon the UFO which it had been monitoring before the Princess' not-so-secret training session was drawn to its inhabitants' attention. The UFO is revealed to be Prince Lotor's laser base (as Lotor does like his ranged weapons), from which detach multiple installations that plant themselves in the ground surrounding the Castle. From these spew forth a squadron of Doom Blaster fighters, and the male members of the Voltron Force rush to join the Princess in the air. Princess Allura orders the team to follow her and Keith agrees. Allura actually performs fairly well at first, colliding with an enemy fighter in the tooth-and-claw way that the Voltron Lions have which tends to be harmless to them and deadly to their targets. However, she runs into trouble when she tries to move up to missiles, for the weapon systems seem to be jammed. Lance and Keith do their best to pull as many fighters from Allura as possible while Pidge advises the Princess not to panic and to instead try the Gyro Override, but she continues to do so, especially when she spots Lotor's fighter among the Doom Blasters dead ahead. Keith gives the order to form Voltron, but he is not in the Black Lion to initiate the activation of interlocks and subsequent functions, and as the mega-thrusters are thus far from "go" the Black Lion is instead shot down by a blast from Lotor. Princess Allura is knocked out and crashes into the ravine beyond the forest surrounding the Castle of Lions, yet fortunately the Black Lion is extremely tough and thus resists destruction. Lotor commands his ships to capture the Blue Lion, presuming it to be the one which the Princess is piloting, and Keith uses this opportunity to send the rest of his team to protect her. Yellow Lion tows Black Lion back to the Castle escorted by the Red and Green Lions whilst Blue Lion attacks Lotor's Zapper ship directly, Keith deflecting the Prince's missiles with the Lion's own and following up with a blast from its watery breath weapon, causing Lotor to remark that the 'Princess' "fights like a lion!" When the Blue Lion lands on his command ship's right wing and starts tearing away with its fangs, however, Prince Lotor realizes that its pilot is too skilled and aggressive to possibly be the Princess Allura. That being the case, he breaks off his attack and withdraws. Coran states that Arus' defenders were lucky this time, but he fears Lotor's return. Prince Lotor is shown entering his web-like personal chambers through his dilating door. There he sits on his throne to enjoy a goblet of (blood?) wine and the dancing of his scantily-clad slave girls. He is still quite confident that he can defeat Voltron and claim the Princess, and waxes poetic about how thoroughly he will dominate her and how willingly she will submit. Now seems the best chance he will ever have.... Back at the Castle of Lions, a penitent Princess Allura lags behind her teammates, begging them not to be angry with her. They give her the silent treatment until entering the Command Center, where Coran berates her in the third person using his typical calm, coldly-logical manner. The Princess regally protests, yet one by one the other members of the team voice their angry concerns with her...all except Keith. Allura tries to explain her actions to the leader of the Voltron Force, yet he will not even look at her. He instead states that - good intentions or not - she almost cost them their lives, which is something that Sven would never have done. This strikes a major blow to the sensitive Princess; she concludes that they don't think she is as good as Sven, and that she has failed. Allura rushes to her chamber and throws herself upon the bed, weeping. Nanny is presently working with the linens and asks her what is wrong, but the Princess isn't about to explain herself to anyone; instead replying to her governess' probing with the curt, implausible, and increasingly-desperate phrases "Nothing....Nothing is wrong" and "Please leave me alone!" After she has had a good cry, Princess Allura leaves her bedchamber and finds Keith monitoring Lotor's newly-positioned military installations. She attempts to approach him, but is stopped by visions of Lance, Pidge, and Hunk uttering more accusatory statements against her. She returns to her room while Keith, who was aware of her presence, reflects that she did take the wrong Lion for the right reasons and that perhaps he was too rough on her. He is not the only long-haired manly-bishounen thinking of the Princess, however, and after nightfall Prince Lotor uses searchlights to scan the Castle of Lions. He seems confident that he has the ordnance at his disposal to destroy the Castle, but he stays his hand out of concern for Allura's safety. He orders some trees and shrubs blasted away to better reveal any possible openings to where she might be hiding, but finds only that the Castle is protected by "a special, thick steel, and no windows." King Zarkon and Witch Haggar contact Lotor via the Space Scope to inquire if he has yet destroyed Voltron. While Haggar notes that the Prince seems more interested in the Princess, Zarkon states that he doesn't blame his son for that; Allura "would be quite a prize." Lotor then suggests that the destruction of Voltron will be his father's glory and the Princess will be his, and Haggar offers him a vote of confidence. Princess Allura, meanwhile, has fallen into a troubled sleep filled with troubling visions. She first sees the Blue Lion piloted by Sven, who controls it effectively and performs well against an attack wing of Doom Blasters. She then sees him replaced by herself, and the Blasters immediately spell her doom. The Princess wakes with a start, deciding that she let everyone down and that she has no right to be part of the Voltron Force. The Space Mice, being such good and loyal little subjects, attempt to cheer her up, but it does no good. Allura is desperate to do something to ensure the safety of her people, for all time. Walking the corridors in thought, she overhears the rest of the team having a conversation in an adjacent room. She listens as they discuss Lotor's boldness in demanding that they hand over their Princess, the assumption that they would never have to put up with such things if Sven were still with them, and that until he comes back they are stuck with a princess who does not know how to work with a team. This crystallizes Allura's resolve as she reaches the edge of the Castle, opens one of its armored sliding doors, and stares out into the night at Lotor's laser base. She refuses to endanger anyone else any longer; she can only sacrifice herself. Princess Allura sneaks out again, but this time she takes the Blue Lion. When Coran has properly informed the other team members of the situation, they board their Lions and plunge into the lake after her. They are too late. Lotor's guards inform him that the Princess has answered his demands, and she crashes through his wall. The Prince restrains the Lion, knocking the Princess unconscious and causing her to tumble out of the cockpit. When Allura awakens in Lotor's arms, she instinctively slaps him and reminds him of her hatred, but she soon composes herself and makes what could be her last act as a free woman: to, in exchange for the safety of her planet, offer herself to Prince Lotor as his slave. Lotor accepts her offer, yet he neither has time to enjoy it nor to pretend to honor it; the rest of the Voltron team have come to the rescue! Realizing that the dark Prince intends to destroy them, Princess Allura attempts to flee, yet Lotor immediately grabs her and uses her as a hostage, presenting her to the Voltron Force and demanding their surrender. With the blue blade of Lotor's exceptionally-cool lightsaber at Allura's throat, the other team members are left with no choice but to give the Prince of Doom the old Yurak special: disembarking and allowing themselves to be surrounded by soldiers until an unseen ally delivers a surprise assault. This time it is Coran, who fires a barrage of smokescreen missiles from the Castle of Lions into their midst. Keith takes this opportunity to help the Princess, yet as he does so Lotor draws his laser sword across the Voltron Commander's back, inflicting a nasty (and un-shown) wound. Lotor prepares to finish him off, but Keith un-holsters his laser pistol and tells Allura to flee to the Blue Lion. Some of Lotor's guards bar the Princess' path, yet Keith fires upon them and knocks one out (possibly to death). !]] Once inside her craft and unmolested, Princess Allura finds that the Blue Lion can easily snap its restraints and take off. Prince Lotor does so as well, summoning his laser base's component military installations back to him and uniting with them. Keith gives the command to form Voltron, and Allura asks him if he is alright. He commands her to worry about the Blue Lion rather than him, and is promptly shot down by Lotor. The Princess rushes to protect Keith, landing on the laser base and tearing into it with her (Blue Lion's) claws. Lotor orders an assault on the Blue Lion, but it has already done what damage it could and flies off. Black Lion has swiftly recovered from the laser rays and thus the team is now.... ...Ready to form Voltron! '''What follows is fairly cut-and-dry in the most literal sense, especially as Lotor's laser base is already somewhat damaged by the Blue Lion's attack. The Prince exclaims that he "had them beaten except for Voltron" (isn't that always the case?) and escapes in his command ship as his laser base is destroyed by one stroke from the Blazing Sword. Prince Lotor vows that he will get the Princess yet. The Princess, for her part, helps carry the injured Keith back to the Castle of Lions' Command Center and is well-received therein. The courage she has shown by her noble self-sacrifice has guaranteed her a place on the team and Keith's assurance that one day she will pilot the Black Lion. Featured Characters Voltron Force *Keith *Lance *Pidge *Princess Allura *Hunk *Sven (mentioned and envisioned) Other Arusians *Coran *Nanny *Space Mice Planet Doom *King Zarkon *Haggar (DotU) *Lotor Quotes "I know I should have asked permission, but I'm afraid they might say ''no!" *After her interior monologue is finished and she has been discovered by and has argued with her teammates* "Just 'cause I'm a girl, you think I can't lead! Well come on; I'll show you!" - Princess Allura, reminding all who hear that she is still just a teenager (albeit a royal one) ***** "There's no other in the universe as beautiful as Princess Allura, and I, Lotor, will soon have her for myself!" ***** "Soon the Princess will be my slave. She shall dance for my pleasure, and serve me when I call. Her Kingdom shall be my slave dungeon. You'll see; I'll destroy the Voltron Force and capture the Princess. Nothing can stop me. Ha hahaha haha!" - More dark poetry from Lovely Loquacious Lotor delivered to no one in particular (though his words seem to annoy the (perhaps jealous) First Girl among his dancing slaves) ***** Coran: "The Voltron Force is a team; like a chain, it is only as strong as its weakest link." Pidge: "Hey, why blame us? It was all the Princess' fault!" Coran: "The Princess is not entirely to blame; she did earn her place to fly the Blue Lion...but now, I don't know if she deserves that privilege at all!" Princess Allura: "'''''Privilege?! Do you call it a privilege to defend one's world from evil?!?" **** "I'm here to make a deal: if you'll spare Planet Arus, I'll stay and serve you well." - Princess Allura to Prince Lotor ***** Princess Allura: "I'm so sorry for causing you all this trouble. I have no right to pilot any of the Lions, anymore!" Keith: "Are you kidding?!? You are the Blue Lion, and someday you'll be the ''Black Lion ''too!" Hunk: "You came through when we needed you, partner!" Lance: "What you did out there today, protecting your friends and subjects, was one of the bravest things I've ever seen anybody do!" Keith: "...And...I have to ask you a favor: never, ever doubt that we always want you on our team!" Princess Allura (in tears): "I feel so happy, so why am I crying?!" *Thinking to herself* "When you have good friends, the world is a much nicer place to live. Having good friends on your team is the best thing in the whole universe!" Notes and Goofs * One may notice that, during the scene in which Prince Lotor watches his slave girls dance, he sheathes his sword seemingly without having drawn it and that the First Girl has a worried expression on her face before she resumes dancing. This is because the scene proceeded differently in the brutal ''Beast King GoLion'''' original: one of the slave girls spilled blood/wine on the Prince and he slew her for it. * This is the last episode of the ''Blue Lion DVD Collection, and Princess Allura has been the damsel in distress for 8 out of the 9 episodes in which she has piloted the aforementioned Lion. * It has not yet been revealed precisely how much time has passed since the series began. The absolute minimum is approximately 15 (Earth) days, but this span would barely even allow Allura 40 hours of Lion piloting/simulation time (the minimum for Japanese World War II pilots who would not even be able to land on an aircraft carrier). Likewise, it would not allow wounded characters sufficient time to recover, and would assume that multiple attacks from Planet Doom were conducted against Planet Arus in the same day. Several months is considerably more likely, and proliferate fanfiction authoress lotornomiko has a story suggesting that Keith and the other Space Explorers have been on Arus with the Voltron Force for two years by the end of this episode. * The Voltron-forming sequence offers a starfield backdrop at some points rather than the normal one, possibly due to this episode's being the first time when Voltron forms at nighttime. * Though Princess Allura's intent is to pilot the Black Lion, she is shown entering her normal #4 chute. Likewise, though Keith seeks to pilot the Blue Lion, he enters the #1 chute and the stock footage which follows clearly shows him entering the Black. ** However, this episode offers a number of new shots of the Black Lion boarding transportation vehicle specifically depicting Allura entering and inside. * When Allura is explaining her reasoning for commandeering the Black Lion to the rest of the team, her pilot uniform gloves are entirely pink rather than white with pink trim. Similar errors occur a number of times during this episode. * When King Zarkon contacts Prince Lotor on the "space scope", his ears are the same colour as his crown. * When the Blue Lion is destroyed in Princess Allura's dream, it appears to have two left eyes. * Princess Allura is knocked unconscious while seated in her cockpit, yet is shown falling out of the Blue Lion from the top of its head. ** Perhaps when she fainted she hit the ejector switch...again? Category:Voltron: Defender of the Universe episodes